Out drive would not go all the way back in and now woun't come out!

[henryj7]

Help! I have a 91 Searay with a 3.0 Merc and Alpha One gen 2 out drive. I removed the outdrive with an engine hoist. I replaced the gimbal bearing. I made sure the alignment bar went in nicely. I greased the u-joint, gimbal bearing, and spline. I then tried to reinstall the out drive which went on all except the last inch. I jostled and giggled it but it would not go, I then decided to take it back out. It now will not come out either?? I checked the shift linkage and it is straight inline with the coupler. I don't know whats wrong? Any ideas?

 

[sti1471]

There are 2 things I can think of that might cause this.

#1- If you used spline grease, sometimes when the splines meet up, the grease can cause a suction effect thus making it hard to pull the drive back out. You can take a large screw driver and place it between the outdrive and bell housing and gently pry back on the screw driver. This should provide enough leverage if it is a suction issue with the grease.

#2- The little rubber "o-ring" that seals water from the driveshaft might have slipped out of place when putting the outdrive back in. It might be wedged between the bell housing and the outdrive / driveshaft. If you did not use perfect seal on that o-ring, then it slips out of place very easy and could be your issue. In this case, I would use the screw driver and try and gently pry it loose. Since you said you could not put the outdrive all the way on, I am guessing this might be the case as that oring getting wedged in there will stop the drive from sliding all the way in.

The part I am referring to is #14 on this picture.
http://www.sterndrive.info/alpha-one/bell_housing.html

Also make sure the drive is in Forward gear and also make sure the shifter is in forward gear.

 

[Lincoln253]

I had trouble reinstalling an alpha after I did s shaft seal for a customer and it was because I had it kicked ever so slightly down and it was binding up .... I would guess the suction effect from grease. you have to be careful how muah grease U use on the shaft because it Can cause it to vapor lock making it practically impossible to seat all the way. Also make sure not to grease the o rings use just a slight amount of oil because grease can actually push out o rings. I would try the prying method just make sure not to damage the mating surface. There's nothing there but the driveline and shift arm and linkage so it can't be that many things binding it up. Did u make sure the shift arm inside was straight when u pushed it into the recess for it. They have a habit of falling over towards the port side if they are worn out.

 

[thumpar]

I wouldn't pry in between the mating surface because it could be damaged. Use a piece of 2 X 4 and place it in between the top of the drive and the transom. Get the trim rams hooked back up and click up on the trim switch.

 

[Lincoln253]

U realize if it is bound up and u use the Rams to push it out u can potentially damage the drive based on the sheer physics of how the Rams are used to lift and lower a drive. Since they are set at and angle and don't push straight out or pull straight in they are actually pushing the drive out in a cocked position causing it to drag on the outer housing potentially causing more damage

 

[thumpar]

U realize if it is bound up and u use the Rams to push it out u can potentially damage the drive based on the sheer physics of how the Rams are used to lift and lower a drive. Since they are set at and angle and don't push straight out or pull straight in they are actually pushing the drive out in a cocked position causing it to drag on the outer housing potentially causing more damage

That is what the wood is for.

 

[Lincoln253]

Even with wood the actual geometry of the way it would be pushing could potentially damage it.... I would try some more by hand before I resort to using massive amounts of hydraulic pressure to pull it out but by all means if u have exhausted all other means I would do whatever u can short of hooking a rope to a tree and the drive and yanking the trailer lmao...... That part was totally a joke.... Don't do that

 

[thumpar]

Even with wood the actual geometry of the way it would be pushing could potentially damage it.... I would try some more by hand before I resort to using massive amounts of hydraulic pressure to pull it out but by all means if u have exhausted all other means I would do whatever u can short of hooking a rope to a tree and the drive and yanking the trailer lmao...... That part was totally a joke.... Don't do that

I guess you haven't really looked at the way it works.

 

[Lincoln253]

Apparently you don't under stand physics or geometry.... Unless u had another set of actuators of equal length and pressure pushing from a point 90 degrees to the first set than and connected to the same mounting point or compensated by pressure and angle of mounting than its not equal pressure or angle thus making it not push straight ....I get what you are saying but a board at the wrong length or angle can cause a whole lot of potential damage

 

[thumpar]

Apparently you don't under stand physics or geometry.... Unless u had another set of actuators of equal length and pressure pushing from a point 90 degrees to the first set than and connected to the same mounting point or compensated by pressure and angle of mounting than its not equal pressure or angle thus making it not push straight ....I get what you are saying but a board at the wrong length or angle can cause a whole lot of potential damage

The wood works as that other actuator. I understand geometry and physics. I took both in high school in AP math classes. Before my senior year I was in calculus.

 

[ktbarrentine]

All I know is I have used the wood and rams method (after closely analyzing the geometry of the action) several times and it works flawlessly ("Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." - Archimedes).....oh, and I am a nuclear engineer.

 

[henryj7]

Well I succeeded in getting the drive back out. With all my might I pulled on the engine hoist and it let go with me, the hoist, and the drive flying. No damage to anything but the gasket. Inspecting the drive spline grease I could see that it was about half way into the coupler. nothing else looked out of place. So I determined I must have an alignment problem. I put the alignment bar back in an in went in easy and stopped. What I had not realized before was that it did not go in all the way. When I hit HARD with the palm of my hand it went in further and was real hard to get out. I did an engine alignment (the front had to be dropped) put on a new gasket and the drive went in and I buttoned it back up. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I probably would have tried hooking up the trim if it did not let go. THANKS AGAIN!
Henry